IATSE_3rd2017_web

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There are twenty-four Locals and two staff groups participating in the Plan representing 26,000 members and their dependents, with annual health benefit premiums of $28 million. The plans are another example where our Canadian Locals, have worked together cooperatively with the International to benefit our members. Motion Picture Industry Health and Pension Plans The Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans (MPI) are trust funds established by collective bargaining agreements between unions and employers in the motion picture production industry. They are administered by 32 trustees. Like all Taft-Hartley benefit plans, half represent labor and half management. Of the sixteen labor trustees, eleven are appointed by the <strong>IATSE</strong> and five are appointed by the Teamsters and basic crafts. International Vice President Thom Davis continues to serve as the labor chair, a post to which I first appointed him in May of 2013. During collective bargaining negotiations in 2009 and 2012, the continued health of the MPI was a key focus of Basic Agreement bargaining when the IA’s bargaining committee was forced to address fallout from the Great Recession. Significant investment losses, a national healthcare crisis and pension legislation all negatively impacted the MPI and other multi-employer plans. As reported elsewhere, during 2015 Basic Agreement negotiations, the IA successfully maintained health plan benefits. Co-pay levels were unchanged and a 10 percent pension increase was negotiated effective Jan. 1, 2017 and retroactive to September 1, 2015 for anyone that was an active participant on or after August 1, 2015. During the four-year period, which ended December 2016, the MPI increased the number of active participants, retirees and survivors qualifying for health plan coverage. This has resulted in over 120,000 individuals and family members being covered by the MPI health plan and 18,000 pension recipients. Active and retiree health plan costs of $677 million were paid in 2016. $290 million in pension benefits were distributed in 2016 and, by the end of 2018, those obligations are currently anticipated to be $338 million per year. Pension payouts are projected to double in ten years according to MPI actuaries. Since 1996, in lieu of increases to the pension, retirees have received a 13th and 14th check annually, increasing their annual pension by 16.7 percent. The retirees were granted three more years of the additional checks after the ratification of the most recent Basic Agreement in 2015. The extra checks are to be provided in November of each year. In 2016, these checks provided retirees approximately $22 million in additional benefits. The Plan’s funding status is in the green zone as defined under federal law. The Individual Account Plan (IAP) grew from $3.3 billion as of December 31, 2012 to over $4 billion by the end of 2016. This growth is driven primarily by wage increases and a significant increase in work since 2012. Investment returns have added 6.5 percent annually over the last twenty years to members’ IAP. The Individual Account Plan has been a critical component of IA members’ retirement benefit package since it was created in August 1979 as a supplemental benefit to the Motion Picture Industry Pension Plan. The IAP requires a 6 percent employer contribution made on behalf of each employee for every hour worked. The IAP assets have surpassed the assets of the Pension Plan, while maintaining a slightly more conservative investment allocation. Together with the Pension Plan, the IAP provides a significant foundation on which IA members can build a healthy retirement package. The amount of work available to MPIPHP participants has increased significantly in the last four years. In 2013, a total of 81 million hours were paid into the MPI. In 2016, contributed hours were more than 94 million, a gain of over 16 percent. However, as healthcare costs (particularly prescription drug costs) continue to rise, health care plans of all types have been adversely impacted including the MPI Health Plan and other entertainment industry plans. Pension costs continue to climb as interest rates remain low and investment returns lag behind historic averages. Attaining financial stability is more important than ever and harder to achieve. For these reasons, the 2015 benefits bargaining committee developed strategic solutions to preserve our health benefits and improve our pensions. Fortunately, the MPI Health Plans have remained secure. Access to a large network of qualified physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals while working to keep health care costs down are at the core of MPI’s mission to improve the quality of life for its participants. Since 2012, Anthem Blue Cross has been the primary medical PPO pro- 40 OFFICIAL BULLETIN
vider. The MPI Health Plans have experienced better than anticipated control over health care costs for the last several years. Notably in 2016, total health plan costs were $10 million below original estimates. The MPI Plans have accomplished these results primarily due to strong provider networks overseen by the Plan’s staff, an outside consulting firm, and the diligent work of the benefits and appeals committee. Furthermore, effective management of all the MPI’s service contracts, including Anthem, Express Scripts, VSP and Delta Dental, along with increased employer contributions, and modest participant premiums for dependents, have allowed the MPIPHP to maintain superior health insurance benefits. The Plan’s key Southern California provider of outpatient medical services, The Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Health Network, which is comprised of six clinic locations, along with its referral relationships with over 500 specialists in the Southern California area, was acquired by UCLA Health in 2014. The MPI continues to work with UCLA Health to provide top level care to our industry participants. Because of collaboration between primary care doctors and the specialists, there is less duplication of services (i.e., MRIs and other scans). Approximately 40 percent of the participants are using the clinics, which has reduced costs for them and for the Plan. A prescription drug contract with Express Scripts was renewed in 2015 and a recent market evaluation of the prescription drug benefit will result in additional savings. Prescription drugs are increasingly a primary driver of health plan costs. Prescription drug costs of the Active Health Plan exceed $100 million per year and in the Retiree Health Plan, prescriptions are equivalent to the hospital and medical/HMO coverage combined. The ability of our outside consultant to properly measure the market for discounts, rebates and dispensing fees is, in large part, responsible for keeping these costs down. Additionally, the Entertainment Coalition, which consists of the MPI, DGA, SAG-AFTRA and WGA, was established to take advantage of the combined purchasing power of those unions’ respective plans for prescription drugs. In 2012, the Plan experienced average monthly expenditures of $46 million ($38.6 million Active Health Plan and $7.6 million Retiree Health Plan). In 2016, those costs were approximately $56 million, an increase of 22 percent over four years. While the MPI is on firm financial footing, future challenges are anticipated. During the past four years, the Plans have experienced growth in the number of active participants and retirees. The funding status of the Pension Plan is in the green zone and 13th and 14th checks will continue to be issued. The Health Plans have maintained grandfathered status under the Affordable Care Act and have remained best in class when measured against other entertainment and national plans. The IAP accepted $221 million in employer contributions in 2016. Yet, the MPI faces challenges that Plan directors are diligently working to resolve. As the overall financial position of the MPIPHP continues to be evaluated, we will focus our bargaining priorities as we head into negotiations in 2018. At the end of 2016, the Active Health Plan held 22 months of reserves and the Retiree Health plan contained 10 months. In 2017 and beyond, the economic obstacles facing the Plans are considerable. These obstacles include the enormous challenges posed by an aging retiree population, rising health care costs, lower investment returns, and increased demands for services. At the same time, the country is struggling to determine what the future of health care will be. It is likely that future legislation will impact health care in ways that are unforeseeable now. Participants can help control costs of the health plan by being good consumers of their benefits. By staying in-network, utilizing generic drugs when possible, receiving maintenance medication through the mail and only utilizing necessary services, MPI participants can significantly impact the overall cost of healthcare. As another matter, the entertainment industry business model continues to shift away from traditional distribution methods (i.e., television, theatrical releases, pay television, etc.), which may impact MPI residual funding in future years. The <strong>IATSE</strong>-appointed MPI directors will continue to monitor all distribution markets and changing distribution methods to ensure that the MPIPHP is receiving the residuals that we bargained for. It is important to protect these significant fund contributions. I, along with the other directors of the Plans and local union leaders, prepare to address future challenges. Our motion picture fringe benefits have increased. The protection of the MPIPHP benefits now and in the future, will continue to be a principal priority for the Alliance. THIRD QUARTER 2017 41
Page 2 and 3: Stand Up, Fight Back! The Stand Up,
Page 4 and 5: EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Matthew D. Loeb
Page 6 and 7: OFFICIAL NOTICE This is to advise t
Page 8: INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF THEATRICA
Page 11 and 12: Sarah Payne sang the anthems of the
Page 13 and 14: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Ka
Page 15 and 16: INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT LOEB PRESEN
Page 17 and 18: SERGEANT-AT-ARMS AND PAGES Ben Adam
Page 19 and 20: Actions of the Convention AMENDMENT
Page 21 and 22: Actions of the Convention CONVENTIO
Page 23 and 24: that we must do all within our powe
Page 25 and 26: and applied the two Resolves to all
Page 27 and 28: THE DIPLOMAT RESORT HOTEL • HOLLY
Page 29 and 30: his tenure, he served the Internati
Page 31 and 32: The IATSE West Coast Office operate
Page 33 and 34: were achieved through the solidarit
Page 35 and 36: ties within their Locals, workplace
Page 37 and 38: solutions to IATSE Locals when nego
Page 39: for the 2016 work period contributi
Page 43 and 44: agreement. It provides a mechanism
Page 45 and 46: concluded. Between November 2015 an
Page 47 and 48: cludes standard provisions such as
Page 49 and 50: Local 105 as the bargaining agent f
Page 51 and 52: successor negotiations with its oth
Page 53 and 54: nizing efforts have focused on thre
Page 55 and 56: The Department is led by Vice Presi
Page 57 and 58: provide safety and skills training
Page 59 and 60: under contract in recent years thro
Page 61 and 62: members, and the labor movement at
Page 63 and 64: immediately began requesting more i
Page 65 and 66: with topics that often arise on Int
Page 67 and 68: the IATSE has participated in “Hi
Page 69 and 70: could be used by local experts to t
Page 71 and 72: To increase our strength at the bar
Page 73 and 74: cers throughout these states have i
Page 75 and 76: motion picture and television indus
Page 77 and 78: Our involvement in legislative matt
Page 79 and 80: NAME LOCAL NAME LOCAL NAME LOCAL NA
Page 81 and 82: LOCAL SECRETARIES AND BUSINESS AGEN
Page 83 and 84: MAHSG 706 HOLLYWOOD‐John Jackson,
Page 85 and 86: LOUISIANA S 039 NEW ORLEANS‐Darre
Page 87 and 88: M 311 MIDDLETOWN/NEWBURGH/KINGSTON
Page 89 and 90: 3340 Poplar Avenue, Suite 129, Memp
Page 91 and 92:
! B a c k i n t h e ! S o u t h e a
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